When the lightning burst out, most of the audience in the stands erupted in protest.
"This isn't even a proper exhibition match—we can't see anything!"
But in the seats below, Shen Yi was staring intently at the stage. Even though she couldn't pierce through the blinding curtain of lightning, she had to watch. She needed to be the first to know whether her students had won.
Less than a minute later, the lightning began to fade, and the tension in her heart loosened. A faint smile appeared on her lips. To her, this was the signal that her students had claimed victory.
Even the spectators, who had been shouting in frustration, fell silent, eyes fixed on the ring.
As the thunderous glow gradually lifted, vague silhouettes came into focus on the platform: four figures sprawled motionless on the ground, two standing off to the left, and six standing off to the right—still, unmoving, as if they hadn't even taken part.
And at the very center of the ring stood a single dark silhouette, gripping another figure by the throat, a dragon-shaped shadow spiraling around him.
"Looks like the Water Dragon Team still couldn't beat Shrek Academy."
"As expected of the Continent's number one academy."
"Not necessarily. Look, there are still two left standing on the stage! Hopefully they won't disgrace our Tianhai Alliance—they need to at least put up a fight against Shrek!"
"Pfft, don't think I don't know what you're after—you just want to see Shrek in a real fight."
"…And you don't?"
"…Of course I do."
The audience was abuzz with mixed chatter. Some scolded the Water Dragon Team for embarrassing the Tianhai Alliance, while others clung to hope that the two still on their feet could at least give them a proper battle to watch.
But when the lightning curtain fully dissolved, and those blurred shadows revealed themselves clearly, the entire arena fell into dead silence.
The four collapsed on the ground… were Shrek's team members.
The two standing to the left were Shrek members as well, stunned and bewildered.
And the six who stood firm to the right, completely unharmed, were the very Water Dragon Team that had been written off before the match even began.
At that moment, every gaze—Shen Yi's included—was drawn to the figure standing tall at the center.
Bathed in sunlight, with sea-blue hair and golden eyes, the young man stood like a god descending to the mortal world. A massive sea dragon, coiling around his body, accentuated his divine presence.
Nan Fusheng glanced at the girl in his grip—Ye Xinglan, her face flushed red as she struggled for breath. With casual disdain, he tossed her off the stage, then flickered across space in an instant to appear behind the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda girl and Xu Lizhi. A light chop to the neck each, and both collapsed unconscious.
With that, the Shrek team was annihilated.
Nan Fusheng turned toward the referee, who stood frozen in shock. To see Shrek Academy—the so-called invincible generation—defeated by their peers? The referee couldn't even process it.
"Referee, are you going to announce the result, or not?" Nan Fusheng's calm voice broke the silence.
"Ah—y-yes! I declare… the winners of this match… the Water Dragon Team!"
The stands were still utterly quiet. Brains blank.
Shrek… lost? The undefeated Shrek Academy… lost?
Nan Fusheng dissolved the martial soul fusion state and led his teammates off the platform. And as soon as the Water Dragon Team set foot off the stage, the silence shattered—erupting into an explosion of cheers that shook the arena.
"They lost! Shrek lost! In all these millennia, this has rarely happened!"
"Water Dragon Team, incredible! You're the pride of the Eastsea!"
"Water Dragon! Water Dragon!"
Chants surged like tidal waves, drowning the stadium in deafening roars. Even Nan Fusheng's alias, Zhang Wuji, was shouted again and again by the frenzied crowd.
Most people still had no idea how the Water Dragon Team had won. But they saw with their own eyes Nan Fusheng tossing Ye Xinglan off the stage and knocking Xu Lizhi unconscious. They saw the referee declare Water Dragon the victor. What else mattered?
They won.
They—the Tianhai Alliance—had defeated Shrek Academy.
And this wasn't just any match. This was a clash between peers of the same generation. No other region had ever managed such a feat.
This was Eastsea's triumph.
Meanwhile, back in the team's private lounge, Nan Fusheng listened to the frenzied chants outside. The corner of his lips curved slightly upward.
Now… it was time to attempt his promotion to Sequence Four.
Yes. This match, this victory—it was all part of his advancement ritual.
Truthfully, though Nan Fusheng possessed the Origin Castle, uniqueness, and even the potion required for promotion, he did not know the proper "ritual" to ascend.
In the system of the Lord of the Mysteries, rituals were crucial. They could be prayers, divinations, or blessings, but their essence was always the same: supplication to higher powers, an anchor to stabilize oneself.
And advancement rituals were the most special of them all. Different for every pathway, but always with one unchanging purpose—maintaining clarity of self, and stabilizing the extraordinary's promotion.
In short: increasing the success rate.
Now, Nan Fusheng sought to harness the emotions of the crowd—their joy, their pride, their elation at seeing the Water Dragon Team defeat Shrek—as the driving force to aid his promotion.
Would it work? He had no idea. It was only a rough imitation of the "Audience" pathway rituals described in the original work. But Nan Fusheng had no other choice.
The only ritual he truly knew was the Fool's: relying on one's strength and schemes to orchestrate a grand performance before countless witnesses, culminating in slaying a demigod and drinking the potion at the climax.
Were there demigods in the Douluo Continent? Yes—at least Rank 99 Title Douluo could touch that realm. But whether that counted for the ritual's requirement… he had no clue.
So this would have to do. After all, rituals were only supplementary. The essence of advancement was the potion itself—the ritual was merely a mark, an anchor.
And some lucky ones had succeeded without any ritual at all.
For example, in Lord of the Mysteries, the so-called "Sea God" Kavitua had recklessly devoured a Sequence 3 Beyonder characteristic raw and somehow avoided losing control. Instead, he transformed from a mere sea serpent into a raging Sea God—though one prone to fits of madness.
Nan Fusheng usually prided himself on his cautious nature, but deep inside, there was still a streak of recklessness. Demigodhood was a hurdle he would have to face eventually.
Taking a deep breath, he sank into his spiritual sea and whispered the name of the potion:
Parasite Potion… Parasite Potion…
In his hand, the potion materialized. Without hesitation, Nan Fusheng tilted his head back—
and downed it in one shot.